The Improving Outcomes Fund (IOF) is a funding program developed by GambleAware to address gambling harms among women and minority ethnic and religious communities across Great Britain. The IOF program was created in response to three research studies commissioned by GambleAware, which found that minority groups experience greater gambling harms but have low uptake of support services, while women experience gambling in different ways from men. These projects also revealed structural barriers and inequalities in accessing support.

Gambling harms are not evenly distributed across the population. People living in disadvantaged communities and those experiencing issues like poverty, mental health challenges, and housing instability are at higher risk, but less likely to access support. To address this gap, GambleAware launched the Community Resilience Fund (CRF) in 2022. Its goal was to test new ways of reaching people at higher risk of gambling harms by funding organizations that already had trusted relationships with their communities. These organizations were often not specialized in gambling, but worked in areas like homelessness, food insecurity, and support for immigrant and ethnic minority communities.

Gambling-related harm can affect many areas of life, including finances, relationships, and employment. Gambling is now seen as a public health issue in the United Kingdom. In response to the growing concern about gambling-related harms, the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) was redesigned and recommissioned in 2023.

From 2020 to 2024, two organizations based in the United Kingdom (UK), GamCare and Ygam, partnered to deliver the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme (YPGHPP). The program was designed to provide education, training, and support to young people aged 11–19 years. The overarching goal was to reduce harms that young people may experience from gambling.

Various forms of gambling are available to people living in Scotland. Unfortunately, gambling can lead to harms to health and well-being, relationships, and f inances. Gambling not only affects people who gamble but also their families, communities, and the wider society. Research has revealed that the health impacts of gambling are shaped in part by industry practices. Yet, emphasis has often been placed on personality responsibility for gambling harms instead of industry practices.

In the United Kingdom, problem gambling has been identified as a serious public health issue. This report provides findings and lessons learned from the pilot evaluation of the Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS), a primary care-based service located in Southeast London. The PCGS was designed to provide consistent and holistic support for adults aged 18 and older who are experiencing harm from gambling. It was developed by the Hurley Group, a National Heath Service (NHS) partnership led by general practitioners (GPs). The PCGS is delivered by a multidisciplinary health team in person, online, or by phone for both people who experience gambling harm and their families who are affected. Funding for the PCGS was provided by the Gambling Commission from October 2019 to March 2022. The pilot was interrupted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it resumed in July 2020. Since April 2022, GambleAware has been funding the PCGS. The objectives of the pilot evaluation were to: (1) examine how each referral pathway was working and identify key enablers and barriers influencing their use; (2) explore the perspective of patients about their experiences with the PCGS; (3) identify early patient outcomes; and (4) provide recommendations for improving service delivery.

In the United Kingdom (UK), gambling is heavily advertised and portrayed as a leisure activity. Gambling-related harms are often framed as individual failures to act responsibly. This contributes to stigma, which is a major barrier that prevents people from seeking support when they experience harms. In April 2023, GambleAware launched a campaign called “Let’s Open Up About Gambling” in the UK to directly counter this stigma. The campaign sought to raise awareness of gambling-related harms, encourage help-seeking among people experiencing harms, and improve societal perceptions and understanding. This report summarizes the campaign’s strategies and approach, its key findings and learnings, and recommendations for future campaigns.

This narrative sits alongside our Theory of Change and sets out what guides the Network, what it does, and how these activities are expected to lead to meaningful change over time. It provides a clear overview of the thinking that underpins the Theory of Change.

The Network’s Theory of Change shows how collective action, shared learning, and coordinated support can lead to reduced gambling harms.

To prevent and reduce gambling-related harms in Great Britain, we are bringing together skilled and experienced people and their networks, providing backbone support and collaborative capacity, and delivering funding.

Expanding on the “What We Do” section of the Theory of Change, this list details the activities of the Network.